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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Although I've made some creative costumes for my kids in the past, this was not one of those years. I have had WAY too much stuff going on lately and despite the unique ideas I came up with in years gone by, I fear the creative part of my brain has ceased to function. Truth be told, I'm sadly lacking the Martha Stewart gene. I know people who can take a dirty diaper, a can of gold spray paint, and some pipe cleaners and create a lovely centerpiece. I'm not one of them. I would take the diaper, toss it toward the garbage can, miss , and knock over the whole can, spilling trash across the floor. The little kids would grab the can of gold spray paint and do some redecorating on the family room walls, and the older kids would take the pipe cleaners and stab each other with the sharp wire ends. Nope, taking a pile of junk and turning it into art is not something I encourage at my house. I guess they could've gone as Crazy Pickle Arm Man - "Look at me! I have a pickle for an arm! Now give me some candy!"

So here are the notsocreative costumes of 2007.

"You dress me up in this stupid outfit, you stick wings on my back AND you expect me to smile? I think not."

"You've got to be kidding me. You want me to leave this thing on my head too? You're pushing your luck, lady."

OK, so we walked to our neighbor's house. The kids went up to the door and rang the bell. Brooklyn stood, a look of confusion on her face.

"Let me get this straight - you put this ridiculous outfit on me, you took me outside in the cold (because it's always 30 degrees on Halloween in Chicago) and now we're standing here at the neighbor's door? Why? Why would we be doing this?"

Just then the neighbor opens her door, exclaims how cute the kids are and gives them candy.

"Candy? I got CANDY? Just for standing here in this silly costume? Wow! I can get into this! Why have we never done this before???"

Remember that little crying princess? Here she is with candy...

Amazing how a little chocolate can put a smile on your face, isn't it? I know it works for me.

After the first "score", she happily ran up to each door. She never quite learned how to say "trick-or-treat", but she got really good with "thank you". She ran to the house yelling, "Thank you!" She yelled, "Thank you!" as candy was dropped into her bag. And finally, one more "Thank you!" was shouted out for good measure as she walked away from the house.

Ummm, I don't know. She wore her softball uniform (Yay, I didn't have to buy or make anything). Then she gave herself a "black eye" and "bloody scratches". What can I say? Softball's a dangerous game.

Here we have the Mermaid Man costume. This thing has had four years of use now. I think it's time to retire him. He sponginess is flaking off, his eyes have several rips in them, and it looks like he's growing mold.

My little monkey.

Cinderella

A scarecrow

A really creepy scarecrow! This is my oldest. He sat out there and waited for big kids to come by. When they did, he jumped and scared them. When little kids came by, he took off his mask and passed candy out to them. I think he had more fun doing this than he's ever had trick-or-treating.

I'm up late due to a candy high and caught your post. That live scarecrow idea is very funny - I bet my oldest son would like to do that. My 2-year-old caught on to the whole candy thing pretty fast, too. I don't know why it is so much fun to watch her shoving her mouth full of candy, but it is. I must be entertainment-deprived.

It's the same kid, only each year the costume gets dirtier and she gets bigger.

First Halloween, she spent the evening taking her first steps (at 9 months old!) in her Grandma's house.

Second Halloween, she learned how to say "trick-a-teet!" and rode a wagon with her cousin all around the neighborhood, got chilled, and gave me a hard time whilst walking home.

This third, and most recent Halloween, she walks halfway around the block, asks everyone if she can come inside, PLEASE? And then, finally, says, "I don't wanna trick-or-treat anymore. I want to SIT." and sit she did- and refused to go anywhere but back to her Grandma's.

This is her last year of being a pumpkin, methinks. I guess the costume was a good value, since we bought it for $20 at the local thrift store.

PS. I think your son as a scarecrow is absolutely TERRIFYING. Were I to see that as a kid, I'd have nightmares for weeks, lol!

i don't know how many times i was a beat up soccer player for halloween when i was in my teens. when i was younger my mom used to make our costumes.... one day, i'll make my kids their costumes, but for now, they are store bought. eventually, i will have time.

Our trick or treat was Saturday evening. Noah 4 and Sawyer 3 dressed as Scooby and Clifford the Big Red Dog. My daughter Kadie who was suppose to work at local radio station asked to get relieved at 6 so she could go with me. Bless her heart. My poor Noah had a miserable night. There was an adult MALE who had on a scary mask that had a voice changer in it Said Ohhhhhh Scooby!!! And that ruined it for him. He spent the rest of the night pleading to go home. We had parked our car at the other end of town and were circling back to it when this happened. (we live just on the outskirts of town) Anyway Poor Noah was scared to death. Especially when there would be a part of the sidewalk that was dark due to trees he was certain this man was going to get him. Sawyer kept saying Hes fake Noah!!! But he wouldnt listen. Sawyer would have gone on forever and was quite depressed when our van came into sight:( Once we got home with their loot My oldest sons ages 19 and 15 asked if they could have candy both of my little ones gladly let them go through their bags. Kadie who loves chocolate was in heaven. Noah kept saying Kadie this is choclate you want it.

Dont feel bad Dawn about not having time for homemade costumes. My daughter told me Mom it isnt fair that you made all of our costumes and the babies wear store bought. I use to have time to make costumes. Like you I NEVER sewed anything just used hot glue and spit and made some wonderful prize winning outfits. Anymore its all I can do to buy them LOL. Maybe next year.

By the way when you said our oldest was the scarecrow did you in fact mean that was your dear hubby? Or your oldest son? I am thinking hubby.

When moms are inspired and energetic enough to pull off homemade costumes, they are brilliant works of art...but sometimes even the best costume-making moms need a break (especially just getting back from vacation). Most kids I know are pretty flexible about what they will wear, so long as it is somewhat recognizable as something. For kids, it's really all about getting the candy and the fun memories of mom's and dads taking them out to have such fun.

The trouble with Martha's way of doing things, is that she sets a really high bar for herself, and people come to expect that of every single function she holds, and so now she can NEVER just 'take a breather' from it, but is stuck needing to outdo herself every time. For gosh sakes, she couldn't even let her hair down during her little stint in prison, lol.

LOVE the 2yr old's bright red nose in the 2nd pic!!! Here in MS, it was 78and rising!!

My "Jasmine" was running from door to door, wanting to "be the first one to push the doorbell". I thought her costume was going to catch on fire!!

I made my 11 yo girl's costume: (get this) Elle Wood's from Legally Blonde. I couldn't believe I made it, but I did-- she really wanted her carsick dog to go with us, but she got REALLY mad at me when I told her No. So, I made her stuffed puppy a costume, too. It was really cute!!

I LOVED your whack a mole costume!! My girls cracked up over it!!

My 13 yo was Marilyn M. Um. She was a soccer player LAST year. Um. If your girl wants to borrow the M costume next year, I have one. They grow up TOO FAST!!

Loved the scarecrow--heehee I ALWAYS wanted to do that!! But we lived in the country and didn't have any trickortreaters. See ya Tina

How cute they are adorable photosThere are kids that are starting to trick or treat in our area. ( WE dont celebrate Halloween here) but I dont let my kids dress up for halloween, as its my birthday and as I told my friends thats my one of the two days of the year that I get to do what I want to do lol. My husband is studying community welfare and came home and told me how in another part if australia last year on halloween there were children that were given ecstasy tablets and chocolate with razor blades inside of them?????? Scary stuff hey!!!!

I enjoy reading your blog. I have three kids and it seems like six most of the time. ;)Your trick-or-treaters all look great. At least the baby said "thank you". When I asked my four year old what he should say after they gave him candy, he thought about it, and said, "Halleluia?". Oh boy.

Thanks for the pictures! The kids look great! My three year old was the official door greeter and candy giver this year. She would dish out handfuls as she said "twickatweet" and "happy hawowween". And then she would ask, "want mow candy?" as they walked away. As for costumes, they were just fine. Martha Stewart is so overrated anyways.

Last December we adopted a 9 year old orphan from Russia and she thinks this American tradition of merely knocking on someones door and getting candy is just about the best idea ever. God Bless America!

My mom made me be a With for 4 years lol! Boy have those days changed!!! I spent over $40 on a SpongeBob costume and the same for Cinderella!!!!!! GEEZ!! Check out my blog when you can...I can so relate to you. My blog isn't long, I just started it! But I noticed Rick, the guy who made your cartoon checked me out! Thanks!! http://momof2teensand2tots.blogspot.com/

Chocolate always puts a smile on my face! Not sure how many times I "coached" the kids...go for the candy bars, skip the small stuff!! Yum Yum- as my waist line expands!http://momof4girls.blogspot.com/

30 degrees?? We have to deal with the other extreme. It was 80 here.We had an altercation with a scarecrow last night. His job was the same as your sons, only I just about took him and his hay-stuffed shirt out because he scared the pee out of my children and they are only 7, 5, 3, and 4 months. Needless to say there was a fair amount of screaming and a good amount of crying afterwards. Good thing I had a bucket full of candy to shovel into their mouths to help them calm down.

Is your littlest one trying to hide behind a couch to quick eat her stash of candy?! That's what my kids do...hide somewhere and eat as much as they can because they know I will be eating all the chocolate while they're in school today! Great Halloween pictures!

I love that pic of lexi! That is so cute! And,is it just my computer,or did you leave out some pics?it was like that in your other post that you wrote when you got home.I was missing the pic of the private cabana,and mermaid man.

When my brother was 8 (I was 10), he dressed like a stoplight (we didn't have a lot of money, so it was a cheap costume)...the scarecrow at one house jumped up and scared him, and he fell over backwards. Stuck like a turtle in the guy's driveway, freaking out.

A couple of Halloween comments...funny what a silly holiday can do to memories and such. When I was about 10 and my brother was 2 or 3 we went out. There were five kids, no money for costumes back then so we all made our own. My brother had THE longest eyelashes so my brilliant idea was to dress him up as a girl. Bad idea. Everyone felt so sorry for the little girl without a costume that they gave "her" more candy than the others (sibling rivalry??) and I felt bad that he really didn't have a costume after all. He turns 50 next year, BTW, and still has the most beautiful eyes!!

Last night there was a new thing going on around here in PA...the parents kept telling the kids to stay behind the "silver strip"...the threshold of the door...seems the kids were opening doors and just walking in the houses before they even rang the bell! And I heard this from several apologetic parents! We also had a number of sobbing toddlers. I didn't see him, but somewhere down the street there was someone in a gorilla costume who apparently looked VERY real and was scaring the bejesus out of everyone. Kids were crying and clinging to their parents like I've never seen before. Gosh, when you see a kid under five, what kind of thrill do they get when they scare a kid like that anyhow?? Chris

When my daughter, the creative artsy one, was 7, she gathered up a number of sheets, wrapped and piled them on and around her, pinning where necessary. When asked what she was, she informed them she was "A pile of sheets". Don't think I'll ever forget that one. She's almost 20 now and still can create unique outfits for appropriate occasions.I didn't have to buy or make too many costumes for that child.

OHHH I am sooo rolling on the floor! I want to come hang out with your oldest and be a scarcrow with him next year!!! I bet that was sooooo dang funny!! We ran out of candy in about an hour and I thought I had enough to feed China! Where did all the kids come from?

Dawn if you have any scrapbookers reading here I have a weekly contest going on my blog to win fun scrapbook supplies!! Come check it out!!

I made my kids costumes this year. Not because I wanted to but because my husband cheaped out on me....quote "There is no way we are spending that much for Halloween costumes. Just go buy them a bag of candy." Yeah right, try telling that to the kids.

I still have issues with scarecrows after someone did that to me when I was young enough to trick or treat! LOL That's a Halloween I'll never forget!

I think the costumes look great. Forget creative... Sometimes it's what's easy and relatively cheap (store-bought!) that's the best. I decided to MAKE a Little Bo Beep costume for my daughter figuring I'd save all kinds of money that way (not to mention that the only Little Bo Beep costumes I could find online were sexy adult ones...), but by the time I bought the pattern, the material, the buttons, the lace trim, the bias tape, the thread, the elastic, and ribbon, PVC pipe (to bend for the crook) and MORE ribbon (to decorate the crook), I was out a good $40 and at least 30 hours of my time. Though I have to say, Little Bo Beep was about the cutest darn trick or treater I ever saw... LOL

LOVE reading your blog! My 2 year old was also wary of wearing a costume (hand me down lion that both brothers had worn). We finally got her into it at a "practice" run and she starting playing tackle with her brother! The first place we went to for trick-or-treating she walked right up, and since then hasn't let go of her loot bag except to sleep!

They all looked so cute. I like the oldest the best though, sounds like something my son would do! Mine is a Halloween baby though. In the trick-or-treating days he would let everyone know it was birthday for extra candy. Now, we go haunted housing instead.

Hey Dawn... I love all your 'Daily-Happenings' with your family... i dont get a chance to read everything you written as i have 4 girls who are very full on kids, but when i do get a chance i usualy go back a few pages and read what iv missed (never get a chance to read them all though). I have just got a few minutes to sit today and read a bit, but i cant seem to find the previous page button, does anyone know why i might not be seeing it today????Also i seem to be getting the email allerts a few days late...I am curious as to how you ended up going to Florida? was it something you had been saving for??I just LOVE the halloween cotumes! I live in Australia and we love halloweening the sad thing is some 'close minded people' are so mean that when the kids go to thier door they yell "where not bloody Americans" and slam the door. Its not like we believe in the witchery of it all we just (as im sure most if not all Americans do) do it for fun. The free lollies dont go astray either, hehe...I'm a single stay at home mum and i just LOVE your blog my girls like sitting behind me just to head me laugh at the funning things you guys get up to while i sit thinking omg i know how you feel...Cheers Donna...